Plan your weekend college hoops on TV
Be sure to plan ahead your weekend hoops because we have some exciting games this weekend. A quadruple header on FSN on Sunday including Kansas at USC, Texas at UCLA and Texas A&M at Arizona, and North Carolina visiting Kentucky on Saturday on ESPN2. For all the games, channels and airtimes, check our December 2007 college hoops TV schedule
Game of the weekend: North Carolina at Kentucky
Here are some previews of this big game from around the net: A Sea of Blue has an early preview of the game, Jerry Tipton of Kentucky.com. CSTV's update discusses Ole Roy's thoughts on Tywon Lawson's injury, Greg Barnes of Scout.com previews the game from a UNC perspective, a local news channel News14 says that Lawson is doubtful, and so does the UNC Rivals page.
More coverage on the game: John Clay of the Sidelines Report blog and the Lexington Herald Ledger has an audio interview with ESPN's Andy Katz!. Check it out!
John Clay provides a scouting report on UNC, and a six-pack of related stories to this big game. And John Clay has a nice article on UK attendance records for non-conference games.
FireBilly.com has predictions of the game, and they "scout" Tyler Hansbrough.
More previews of the game at Aaron's UK Basketball blog!
Now back to the North Carolina perspective, here are thoughts on the game from Tar Heel Fan, Inside Carolina, Tar Heel Daily, Tar Heel Blue at CSTV, Tar Heel Times, and Carolina March.
Elsewhere in the world of college basketball
College Basketball Reference picks the winners and losers of the pre-season tournaments, and posts their own Top 25.
From the world of comedy and silliness, Kansas State's Billy Walker gets caught urinating on towels during the game (story at ballhype.com).
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Friday, November 30, 2007
Preparing for a weekend of college hoops
Oklahoma at USC
Devon Jefferson in the first half, and OJ Mayo in the fourth quarter were too hot to handle for the Oklahoma State Sooners, and USC won this defense-intensive game. Despite the hard defense, the game was more watchable than the final score may indicate.
Regular readers of this blog knew how good Devon Jefferson was months ahead of time. The rest, found out this week after two solid games against the Southern Illinois wrestling team and the Oklahoma Dookies.
Austin Johnson, strep throat and all, single-handedly brought the Sooners back in the game in the second half, but then Tim Floyd spun a web around him, and took him out, just like he did with touted physical specimen freshman Blake Griffin. Keith "Moose" Clarke had his moments on offense, showing potential if he continues to work and improve his game.
So what did we learn from this game? USC is for real, as we had predicted, and despite the diva moments from OJ Mayo, the team plays defense for real. The Oklahoma Sooners are a team mending and blending, with a new coach and players, and has the potential of getting an NCAA bid, but they have to earn it the hard way. In a worse case scenario they'll probalby be invited to the inaugural College Basketball Invitational (CBI), aka not-good-enough-for-the-NIT.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Oregon at Kansas State
They must have put something in the water they hand out at the inaugural Big 12 Pac 10 Hardwood series, because both games so far ended in overtime and in dramatic fashion. The prodigal freshman was going against the Quack Attack. Who prevailed???
The game started fun, fast and furious, until both coaches "zoned out", and used zone defenses to slow the opponent down. This worked in slowing down the game to almost a crawl and having a low first half score.
The second half was exciting however, with the teams going back and forth. Michael Beasley once again showed his "mad skillz", although some could point out that he was jumping over shorties, not players his own size, length and athleticism. But Fran Frachilla (who blogs and surfs in a swimsuit? (just testing to see if you are reading this Fran :)) has appointed Beasley the #1 pick of the 2008 NBA draft, and why not? He might be the next Kevin Garnett or Melo. Can you afford to not pick him over yet another guard or wing? Thankfully I don't have to make that decision, but NBA GMs will have to :)
I had my reservations with this season's Quack Attack, because Aaron Brooks was the glue that held last season's team together as a seasoned four year veteran college point guard. That's why I haven't given the Ducks much vote love in the BlogPoll Top 25 bloggers poll.
But after watching them for the first time this season, I was pleasantly surprised. Yes, they do have their issues, in that they lack size, but they are a versatile team with a capital T. Space-eater Jo Catron is no longer just five fouls off the bench, he has improved his game in many aspects, and showed he can have impact in the paint on the offensive end. Marty Leunen continues to be the all-around player that was advertised, but he seems to have added more toughness as showcased by his four-rebound effort at a critical time of the game while going against three Kansas State players. The Mighty Mouse may be a liability because of his size, but he is a game changer because of his size, speed and shooting. Bryce Taylor is another player that has improved his game from last year. And while Mailk Hairston, just like his other overrated teammate Joe Crawford at Kentucky, failed to meet their lofty expectations coming out of high school, he is also another solid experienced player in the rotation.
Kansas State could have easily won the game, if they could hit their free throws (they went 0 for 3 in three one-and-one attempts, essentially 0 of 6). They also made some freshman mistakes as expected, but they also showed some poise. While this team is not yet a top 25 team, there is a lot of potential as Billy Walker continues to get up to speed, and the newcomers get more acclimated to D1, and Frank Martin finds more ways to take advantage of having Michael Beasley in his line-up.
Despite the loss, this was a good game for Kansas State, although obviously a W would have been even better. Needless to say this was a good road win for the Mighty Tiny Ducks, in front of an ESPN audience.
The (Big 12 Pac 10 Hardwood) series is now tied 1-1, with Oklahoma playing USC as we speak, and ten more games are coming up in the next few games. What's different in this series is that some tams are playing more than one game, namely Arizona, Stanford and USC (assuming the Kansas at USC game is part of the series). This presumable was set up as such so that all 12 Big 12 teams would play in the hardwood challenge.
George Washington at UCLA
George Washington lost the game, but they managed to do something no other college team has been able to do: put Kevin Love in a straightjacket (to borrow a Kevin Harlan expression), and get him upset and frustrated. This was the first test for Kevin Love and he showed (as expected) that he is human after all.
The return of Darren Collison and the continued improvement of Westbrook were something to cheer about for UCLA Bruins fans. The Ben Howland defense managed to shut off GW's water in the second half and cruise to a comfy victory.
Early in the game the Colonials made a push, and a barrage of three brought them back in the game. But without the benefit of more threes in the second half and going against the UCLA defense and the road crowd was too much for this rebuilding team.
The Karl Hobbs squad does look promising though, as they blend two "ACC" transfers and promising freshmen into their rotation. Because of their size, quickness, fastbreaks and three pointers will be perhaps what decides most of their games.
According to the FSN Prime Ticket crew, John Wooden missed the game as he was at home recovering from a cold.
Wild Prediction: Ben Howland will be out of UCLA faster than you think!
Here is another Wild Prediction: Ben Howland will be out of UCLA faster than you think!
Before you dismiss it as totally crazy, keep in mind that I predicted Jamal Boykin's transfer out of Duke more than 12 months before it happened, so you can upgrade this prediction from "totally crazy" to "really crazy" :)
Why is Ben Howland is going to be out of there faster than you all think? Because of his style of play. As long as he is winning games, he will be fine, but once he has a couple of iffy seasons, it will all collapse like a house of cards. He won't get the Steve Lavin benefit of the doubt.
John Wooden himself, who doesn't want to say anything negative, has pointed out during his interviews with ESPN this year that "he does it with defense", and "the game is too physical". You can read between the lines there, the Wizard is saying that Howland is winning with slugfest, instead of playing the game the way it's supposed to be played!
Ben Howland will find himself in a Tubby Smith situation once he stops going to the Final Four. He may have an impressive record on paper, but it won't be good enough for the legacy of UCLA/Kentucky, because at those places, it's not just wins and losses, it's also how you play. As some of the biggest and most historic college basketball programs, they are not just another team, they are the guardians of the game. The coaches call themselves the Guardians of the Game, so when you are the coach of one of the top ten programs, you have even more responsibility. And as such, the fans expect not only wins, but high caliber basketball.
Neither Tubby Smith nor Ben Howland have been able to deliver that. Especially when they get compared to the Rick Pitino and John Wooden style of play.
What's even more telling with Ben Howland is that he has the fastest point guard in the country, and he uses him to run on offense, not to score, but to put pressure on the defense and then pull back. Don't believe me? Grab some UCLA tapes from the previous years and take a close look.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
North Carolina at Ohio State
It was a fast moving game, but nowhere near as high scoring or entertaining as the one last year. Without Tywon Lawson, North Carolina was playing at a "slower pace", but was able to grab the deal and hold it while the young Ohio State team was looking for an offensive identity.
The good news for the young Buckeyes was that their touted scorer Diebler (shooter, not dribbler) finally found the net as he hit a barrage of three pointers (but he took a lot of them too). The bad news was that their touted freshman center Kosta Koufas had a second bad game in a row. Was it the competition, the size of the opponents, or an early freshman wall, or all of the above?
The initial burst that got the Ohio State team out of the team looks like it's waning off, and now the freshmen and youth of the team is perhaps starting to surface. But the raw talent is there, and they have one of the best current coaches in Thad Matta, so you can bet they'll figure it out.
Carolina is starting to "like" the "win ugly" approach to games as they get their second win in the 60s. What? Carolina in the 60s? Well, they were without Lawson baby! Once again, for whatever strange reason, the Carolina coaches played Quinton Thomas and Marcus Ginyard at the same time. While that may be great on defense, neither one of those guys is an offensive thread. Having two of them on the floor at the same time is an ealry XMas present for the defense as it allows them to focus on the other three UNC players.
So what did we learn from this game? Ohio State is young, and North Carolina can win ugly.
The new Blog Poll Top 25 has been published!
Read all about it: The Blog Poll Top 25 Google spreadsheet! See how each blog-voter blog-voted on this blog-vote-poll!
Memphis got 6 #1 votes, and the #1 spot, with UCLA getting 4 #1 votes and the #2 spot, and North Carolina getting 2 #1 votes (despite playing defense for a chance ;-) and the #3 spot.
My late motion to proceed on a motion to consider a non-binding resolution to drop the Salukis from the Top 25 failed, so the wrestling team of the Salukis is at #23. More of my thoughts on the Salukis and their "offense".
The Pukies have climbed all the way to #6, while the Texas schools (Austin, College Station) invaded the Top 10 with their performances at the Versus StubHub Legends Classic and the preseason NIT Tip Off.
BYU burst into the top 20 after playing two solid back to back games against PitinoVille and Carolana. I had them much higher even, at lucky #13, which means they are probably going to lose by 20 to the next low-major team they play :) Speaking of low major, they do play Michigan State on December 8 (just kidding Izzo State fans!)
Villanova climbed one spot (from #25 to #24) as the blogger-voters realized that their loss to NC State was on a bad call at the end of the game.
Out went Syracuse, Kansas State (Michael Beasley should ask for a trade), Davidson and the University of Iverson-Singletary.
Mid-majors receiving votes were George (pause) MASON, George (pause) MASON, Miami of Ohio and Saint Mary's of the WCC. Mid-major-conference teams in the top 25: Butler, Gonzaga, and Southern Illinois. We need more mid-major-conference bloggers :) Teams from BCS-wannabe conferences: Memphis, Xavier and BYU. The remaining 19 slots went to BCS teams.
Meanwhile Clemson was all over the place, as high as #11 and as low as out of the top 25. I think last season's epic Clemson meltdown is fresh in the minds of a number of voters (me included), so Clemson has to earn my top 25 vote the hard way. Similar to Pitt, they'll get a top 25 vote when they earn it the hard way.
If you want to To find out which blogs are participating in this Blog Poll Top 25, then find out!
Reaction from the other participating bloggers
March to Madness, who does a great job administering the poll, may have found a new mascot for the BlogPoll Top 25 :) They also comment on BYU, OJ Mayo Mania, Butler, and more.
SEC Hoops The Good The Bad and The Dirrrrrtty dissects this week's (week 3) blog poll votes. They highlight the teams that have moved on up and down, and the newcomers in the top 25.
Storming the Court casts their first Blog Poll Vote, and provides a detailed analysis of their picks.
You decide my #1 vote for next week
One more thing, for this week you, the readers will decide who I vote for #1 next week - there is a poll vote at the top of the right column. The team voted #1 by the readers will receive my #1 vote in next week's BlogPoll Top 25. If there is a tie for the #1 spot, I will be the tie-breaker (unless someone has a better idea for a tie-breaker) :)
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Existential questions for Wisconsin fans
Can Bo Ryan's style of play and recruiting style really win the big games? Can they ever make the Final Four? Is his style destined for 25+ wins but not winning the big games? While he has won lower division championships, is he still thinking and recruiting in D3 terms? Has Wisconsin reached its ceiling and simply can't get any higher?
All these are open ended questions, not conclusions :)
Jimmy V speech to air on Wednesday across the family of ESPN Networks
A very nice touch by ESPN, on Wednesday November 28, 2007, they will run the inspiring Jimmy V speech at the ESPYs through the family of ESPN Networks at 7pm eastern (4pm pacific). This is why the games start at 7:13pm, instead of their usual 7pm tipoff (eastern).
More details on the November College Hoops TV schedule, as well as the December College Hoops TV schedule, which will be updated throughout the month as usual.
The return of Lute Olson (for a practice)
Lute Olson returns to practice says ESPN.com, but it is still not known whether he is back full time. He was quoted saying that he was "going to give it a try".
More on this from the Arizona Sports Hub. This blog, A Sideline View says that it has to do with the health of one of his sons.
The lesson learned from this: If you are a high profile person, you owe your fans an explanation. Obviously the Arizona fans will for the most part, respect Olson's wishes, but as basketball fans deserve to know.
Southern Illinois vs USC
This game showed exactly what I have been talking about when it comes to the Southern Illinois Salukis. This may be a top 25 defensive team, top 25 wrestling team, top 25 hard working team, top 25 over-achieving team, top 25 smartest team, top 25 body building team, top 25 football team, top 25 slugsketball team, but they are not a top 25 basketball team.
Let me describe the Salukis offense in simple terms: Use 20 to 30 seconds of the shot clock while pushing and shoving the opponents, throw the ball at the rim, push all the opposing players out of the way, grab the rebound, and make the layup. I'm sorry but if this is one of the best top 25 basketball teams, I'd rather watch Spelling Bee and Dog and Pony show reruns with Jimmy Dykes on ESPN Classic.
Thankfully the USC Trojans exposed them for the whole nation to see. Enough excuses for the Salukis. They are the premier team of the Missouri Valley (allegedly), they are not a low-major in the RPI #30 conference. They should be playing more basketball and less football/wrestling/slugfest. I'm sure Digger Phelps is going to have a field day with this game - unless he is busy playing ...actor.
Now imagine if half of the teams in the country adopted the Salukis style of play. That would ruin college basketball! Wake up Salukis!
On the other side of the aisle, the USC Trojans were impressive. Tim Floyd did not "Fear the Mayo" as he benched his star recruit, while spinning his decision to the media to save face for the Juice perhaps. Well, his decision apparently paid dividends, not because the two starters played better, but when Mayo and Taj Gibson got in the game, they grabbed the lead and never looked back.
As I have been saying for quite a while now, it was only a matter of time before Devon Jefferson got up to speed, both recovering from his injuries and getting accustomed to the college game. As I mentioned many times, he was a high-school all-star caliber player (he played in one or two of the big four post-season high school all star games in 2005), and he is two years older now, with presumably two years of prep school seasoning. Expect to hear a lot more from Devon Jefferson.
As Steve Lavin pointed out, the Trojans were a different (better passing) team without the Mayo. Daniel Hackett is continuing to emerge as the engine or backbone of the team. Angelo Johnson is another player that can have an impact on the game, as he can shift gears and give opposing defenses a different look.
But perhaps the big Thank You from Trojan fans should go to Charles Coles and the Miami of Ohio Red Hawks who prepared the USC Trojans for this type of a game. While the Trojans looked more jittery against Miami of Ohio, their "training' paid off when they took over the Salukis game and never looked back.
More on this at Trojan Wire, including their piece on Devon Jefferson. Also at Daily Trojan, uschoops.com, and Brendan Loy's Irish Trojan blog.
The Salukis point of view at SIUSalukis.com.
And non-denominational opinions at College Hoops Journal, ArcaMax.com.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Who is #1? You vote, I vote!
As promised, you, the blog readers, will decide which team I will pick as #1 in my vote in mext week's BlogPoll Top 25. The choices are from four of the teams I consider #1-worthy: UCLA, North Carolina, Memphis and Georgetown. You vote, you decide, and then I vote as #1 the one you decided!
What is the BlogPoll Top 25 you ask? It's a weekly poll based on the votes of a number of college basketball bloggers! Who are the bloggers participating you ask? Here they are:
PS1> If I forgot to include a participating blog, please let me know!
PS2> Are you a blogger and you want to join? You can!
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Arizona at Kansas
This was a surprise. The Lute-less and struggling Arizona Meerkats were supposed to get their asses kicked real bad at Allen Fieldhouse. That's what one who has watched the previous Arizona games would have thought.
But instead of that, we got a very close game that was decided late in overtime, where Kansas finally took over the game, following an airball by the high scoring Chase Budinger, an airball that unraveled the Wildcats.
With Collins out, and Brandon Rush slowly recovering from his injury, the Kansas Jayhawks did not look particularly impressive, even though deep and talented to a certain extend. They clearly did not look like a Final Four team today.
With the rich history and tradition at Kansas, is it too early to bring up the "U-word"? Has Bill Self underachieved given the talent he inherited and the boatloads of talent he brought in himself? Were two Elite 8s and two first round exits not signs of the U-word when there was talent for two Final Fours and two Sweet 16s?
Arizona looked a lot better than before, with Kirk Waters thrown into the fire, Nic Wise taking over the point for a big chunk of the game, and at times looking like a kitten running and bumping into things, Jordan "Lee" Hill continuing with the P-word (potential) but not delivering the R-word (results). Apparently ESPN's Ron Franklin decided to call Jordan Hill "Lee". But because he lulls people to sleep with his monotone, people probably didn't notice ;-)
Jamelle Horne is a talented and athletic player but he is clearly overmatched to play big-time power forwards. But apparently Kevin O'Neill does not mind throwing him into the fire. Despite the big bigs of Kansas, Mohammed Tangara and Fendi Onobun, along with touted 7-footer freshman Alex Jacobsen did not get any PT.
Kansas has a ridiculous six-man rotation upfront, they are so deep that perhaps they should experiment with Arthur-SlimShady at the 3-spot when Brandon Rush is not in the game. This was the first time I saw a full Kansas game, and I must admit that I was expecting more from the team, knowning that Rush was recovering and Collins was not playing. They still had a lot of burgers in their rotation! But obviously it's too early, and things, can and do usually improve over the season.
A sneak preview at my next BlogPoll Top 25 vote
There will be another BlogPoll Top 25 vote tomorrow. In preparation for that vote, I'm thinking blogging aloud on how I will be voting. There are 24 hours left before the vote is cast, and things can change with more games played and the wind adjusting my opinion :)
So, who's #1?. Based on how UCLA Gonzaga'ed their win over Michigan State, I will be giving him the #1 spot. North Carolina surprised me by being able to lock down BYU on defense towards the end of the second half, but I get the feeling there's something missing from this Carolana team. Memphis and UNC are a toss up for the #2 spot, I'll do a coin flip if it remains too-close.
Rushing into the top 25 will be BYU after two impressive performances against UNC and Louisville. If they continue at this pace, BYU may be looking for a new head coach in April (now that's what I call jumping on the bandwagon!)
Barely sneaking into the top 25 will be Michigan State (I had my doubts, still do, still think Drew Neitzel is over-rated) and Illinois. Despite their loss to Puke, they have shown versatility, depth and promise.
USC will remain in the top 25, partially because of the potential contributions of Davon Jefferson, and the blending and mending of this new team.
I haven't seen Kansas play this year, but that will change in a few minutes when I start time-shifting the Arizona vs Kansas game. Depending on what I see, their position will be adjusted.
Needless to say the run and gun Austin Torreros (Rick Barnes's Texas) will jump up, while the struggling Bruce Pearl Vols will take a tumble in the teens. Their game against West Virginia did not impress me much.
Unless Southern Illinois shows offensive skills in their game against USC, I will continue not to include them in the Top 25. The Top 25 is the best 25 basketball teams in my opinion, not the best 25 football/wrestling/slugfestball teams :)
Gone gone will be Kansas State, perhaps Michael Beasley should ask for a trade to West Virginia? :)
Davidson will remain in the top 25. Road losses should not necessarily cause knee-jerk reaction and have a team drop out. Remember, the vote is the best 25 teams, not the Billboard Charts where things go up and down in predictable patterns. The AP/Coaches polls are behaving more like the Billboard Charts.
I'm glad I kept Xavier in the Top 25, especially now that they beat Indiana ;-) Poor Xavier was robbed in two of the last four NCAA tourneys. Thad Matta's Xavier should have advanced to the Final Four over Duke (bad zebras bad!), and the Greg Oden call kept Miller's Xavier from advancing in the 2007 tourney.
Clemson will remain out of the top 25 until I am convinced they are actually one of the best 25 teams. Remember 2006-2007? :) Pitt is another glorified Clemson-type team. They have to earn the top 25 based on how they play and who they play, not by cupcaking :)
If I don't have 25 teams in the Top 25, Syracuse might find itself in there! Another team that might find itself in the Top 25 is George Mason, and Mike Anderson's 40 minutes of H*ck!
While this is theoretically a west-coast bias blog, it's hard to miss the fact that the Pac-10 and west coast teams are collapsing like a house of cards. Granted a number of those are because of injuries or other reasons, and some will point out that the projections look towards teh end of the season, not necessarily how teams do in their first five or ten games. But those first ten games can play a significant factor in setting up the RPI/SOS.
Is it too early to talk RPI/SOS? Based on my early tea-leaf Bracketology Syracuse is out, but they do earn the #1 seed in the new College Basketball Invitational! Just kidding Orange fans) :-)
If you are wondering what is the Blog Poll Top 25, see the intro to some of the blogs participating, and all my posts on the Blog Poll Top 25 so far. There is also a BlogHype group discussing the Blog Poll Top 25!
I have been behind on a lot of posts this week: Week 2 of the Blog Poll Top 25 was published on Tuesday, but I'm mentioning it just now. There are some paper caught in my typewriter so I couldn't publish it earlier on. Here is the Week 2 Top 25 (Google spreadsheet), along with the votes of each participant-blogger.
Coming on Tuesday: I will create a poll, and you, the readers, will decide which team I will vote in the #1 spot in next week's Blog Poll. The list of teams to vote on will be teams that I consider worthy of #1 consideration, it won't be a have-a-field-day vote :) This is to thank readers like you for reading and supporting this blog through the centuries.
Miami of Ohio vs USC
The Red Hawks with hawkish coach Charles Coles played like your typical solid mid-major team with experienced players and having NCAA aspirations: solid hard-nosed defense and solid half-court shot-clock-violation offense. What they didn't have was pure talent and athleticism. They forced Floyd's squad to compete with them at their level, and it wasn't easy for the Trojans. It took some good karma from football coach Pete Carroll and a bounce of the ball here and there for USC to win.
The Trojans, Mayo included, tightened their defense, although as expected of a young team they had their lapses which translated into Hawk-points. As expected Mayo had some impressive moves, some "what is he doing" shots, and such, but because of the pace of the game, he wasn't able to showcase his skillz more often.
Another player that continues to fly under the radar is Devon Jefferson. This guy was a summer all-star selection two years ago. So with two years of prep school preparation, the former UNLV signee should be an all-conference caliber player once he gets his feet wet.
This sets up the Trojans for another grinder, this time with the anti-basketball squad of the Salukis. The first one to 45 wins :)
Surely this must be frustrating for the ESPN big wigs (and fans alike) because they set up this tourney (Anaheim Classic) to showcase OJ Mayo's skills, not to show grinded out affairs. And it looks like the worse case scenario had happened, USC is facing two methodical teams, Miami of Ohio and Souther Illinois.
Gift ideas for the hardcore hoops fans and more
With the holiday shopping season upon us, now it's about as good of a time as any to pick up gifts for friends, family and yourself! Here at NCAA Hoops Today we have some suggestions, for both the basketball fan and the general population.
First up, for the hardcore basketball fan, consider getting them DVDs of their favorite college team playing (and preferably winning) games in the 2007 NCAA College Basketball Tournament. If your team didn't make it or didn't do so well, consider also some of the classic NCAA tournament moments. and digging into the classic DVD archives sold on Amazon by CSTV.
If your trusty VCR is wearing down and you are looking for a new way to record your favorite hoops games, consider all the alternatives in our Tech Talk special article.
And how about the 2008 College Hoops Video games? The 2K Sports games are already shipping, while the EA Sports game will ship around XMas time.
And now some gift ideas for the general population:
BYU vs North Carolina
We had some shocking revelations in this game. This group of North Carolina players can actually play defense and not have a meltdown when punched in the mouth? That's what the end of the second half showed, while the end of the first half showed the same team that had an epic meltdown/lock-up against Georgetown in the Elite 8.
Granted they were playing without Tywon Lawson who got injured two minutes into the game, so Ole Roy did not have time to create a game plan without him. But that meltdown showed that perhaps there's something missing from this team, and I'm not talking about talent or Xs and Os, but the intangibles. So what exactly is missing? (that's why they pay the experts to figure it out!)
While Ellington has the talent and can hit big shots at times, it doesn't seem like he has as much impact on the game as he should have based on his talent/position. He is not the type of player that would scare an opponent like Rashad McCants, but then again it took McCants three years to figure it all out.
BYU once again looked impressive. Tavernari never met a shot he didn't like hoisting up in 50 milliseconds or less, and once again he made a lot of those, which is scary for the defense because if this guy can make 3-6 crazy three-pointers per game, that's the difference between winning and losing a game. Plaisted had a big game and got Vitale to sing his praises. Once again Vitale was expecting to call a game with a big team from the state of Kentucky, but found himself getting his hands "dirty" with non-BCS teams. Oh it's unbelievable I am the one and only Dick Vitale and I have to call games of Gardner Webb and BYU! Oh it's unbelievable get me the ESPN VP! I want to sing the praises of Coach K, Rick Pitino, Roy Williams, Tom Izzo, not David Rose and Gardner Webb baby!
Back to Trent Plaisted, he had a big game numbers wise, even though he missed a number of baskets he should have made, but you may want to credit the defense for that, with the Carolina players flying at him. He perhaps exposed a hole in this year's UNC team, they cannot guard big talented and athletic centers. The good news for UNC is that there are not that many like that around. The bad news is that they are facing Ohio State and Kosta Koufos next week, so they'll be tested again. Although Koufos is nowhere near as athletic, mobile, agile and experienced as Plaisted, but he does have seasoned offensive moves perhaps for a player of his age.
What's even more promising for BYU fans is that they almost beat Carolina and beat Louisville with Cummard in foul trouble in both games. Plaisted had an okay game and a great game, while Tavernari's shooting was off the hook on both nights. If you average out the performance of those three players, and assume that Tavernari can continue to deliver crazy 3s on a consistent basis, we could be looking at perhaps an Elite 8 if the stars align, or a Sweet 16 team.
Which brings up another question, why was BYU "hiding" David Rose in the "boring" Steve Cleveland staff and why didn't they give him the reigns a lot earlier? This guy looks like he can coach. Okay, I'm starting to sound like Vitale now, so I better stop singing the praises of Rose baby!
Another surprise to those who don't think Ole Roy is a solid coach was the smart move of not burning out Psycho T on Plaidsted. Not that Psycho-T would have been the ideal player to guard him, but by rotating Thompson and the athletic Stepheson on him, he allowed Psycho-T not to get into foul trouble and have Plaisted-stress. However, this backfired in other areas, because Psycho-T was on the perimeter chasing Tavernari, instead of grabbing defensive rebounds and filling up the paint.
One thing that the Carolina coaching staff seems to not pay attention to is having Quinton Thomas and Marcus Ginyard on the floor at the same time. Neither one of those guys are offensive threads, so they allow the defense to focus on the remaining three players. But if you don't need to score points, or you want to have an impact on defense, then perhaps it makes sense to have them in the game together. This is perhaps why the Carolina fans petition to get Q-Thomas more "PT" is mostly going to fall on deaf ears.
More on UNC at the TarHeel Mania blog, UNC Basketball Update, Carolina BBall. The BYU perspective at Cougar Fan. And an independent point of view at College Sports Pro. CSTV Headlines.
Tennessee vs West Virginia
The second game of the StubHub Legends Classic on Versus with Dennis Miller sports "funnies" during the commercial breaks promised to be an exciting game, the fiery Bruce Pearl vs the fiery Bob Huggins! Wow, it looked good on paper! But the games are not played on paper. So it was quite disappointing that the first 30 minutes of the game were a whistlefest instead. But...
... the last ten minutes made up for it a bit, with a more open and exciting game developing. In that game we saw a hybrid Huggins, with trademark John Beilein backdoors, three point showers, and 1-3-1 zone being employed. It will be interesting to see how long Huggins can stay with his players shooting threes like there's no tomorrow. There is certainly talent on the team, but how fast can Beilein-ball become Huggins-ball, and how well can Huggins and his players adapt to a temporary hybrid style of play? I must confess that I was impressed with how they handle it in this game, although obviously they didn't get the W, but they gave the Vols all they could handle. And who knows, he may like it and adapt it into his system! (*cough* *cough*)
While there was no Dane Bradshaw (author of Vertical Leap: Inside the Rise of Tennessee Basketball), Bruce Pearl has waves and waves of players to come off the bench, including his own son, and the now slimmer 7-footer Brian Williams (not of NBC News). Obviously Lofton is the star who appears to be going through a slump (for his standards/expectations), just like Ramar Smith. Of couse part of the "slump" is the clueless play by play and highlight announcers who think a player's performance is judged by looking at the box score and if it's under 20 points for a star, well, he must be struggling.
With so many cable, satellite and internet outlets broadcasting college basketball games, it must be a bull market for basketball analysts. Which perhaps explains why Versus picked former Ohio State coach Jim O'Brien as the basketball analyst for the Legends Classic.
Saturday, November 24, 2007
College Hoops TV Guide, the 2007-2008 season tips off!
Welcome to a new season of college hoops TV guide. That's right, in the next two weeks we will have our first exhibition games televised! Woohoo! Note: all times pacific! Please note times can change! Treat these as only estimates! Always double check with your local listings!
Fresh 2007-2008 College Hoops Games
Sunday November 4, 2007
Friday November 9, 2007
Saturday November 10, 2007
Sunday November 11, 2007
Monday November 12, 2007 (ESPN2 triple header)
Tuesday November 13, 2007
Wednesday November 14, 2007
Thursday November 15, 2007
Friday November 16, 2007
Saturday November 17, 2007
Sunday November 18, 2007
Monday November 19, 2007 - the start of Feast Week!
Tuesday November 20, 2007
Wedn November 21, 2007
Thur November 22, 2007
Old Spice Classic quadruple header on ESPN2:
Fri November 23, 2007
Don't miss a game with TiVo!
Sat November 24, 2007
Sun November 25, 2007
Mon November 26, 2007
Tue November 27, 2007
Wedn November 28, 2007
Thur November 29, 2007
Fri November 30, 2007
DECEMBER 2007 SCHEDULE
Record and time-shift the games with...
The Philips DVDR3575H/37 DVD Recorder with Hard Drive. This costs $300 and has a hard disk drive along with the ability to record on DVD, either directly or from the hard disk drive. Ideal for the hard core basketball fan who wants to have control. Read more on this topic
2007-2008 games on Regional FSNs
2007-2008 games on ESPNU
Repeats and Classics
Documentaries and Season Previews
NBA 2007-2008 Preseason Games
Everything else
More TV Listings
Direct from the Source
Record your favorite games!
Relive your favorite 2007 NCAA Tournament games
Gigantic 2007-2008 preview with links
Want a second opinion on some of the games so far? Check out our new feature, The Game Critic! Here are some recent games under the microscope:
*Davidson at North Carolina
*StJoe's at Syracuse
*Youngstown at UCLA
*WiscGB at Ohio State
*NM State at Duke
*Montana at Gonzaga
*UCSB at Stanford
*Concordia at Arizona (game without Lute Olson)
*E.Wa at Wash State
*Stony Brook at Villanova
Time-shift your favorite games with...
The Philips DVDR3575H/37 DVD Recorder with Hard Drive. Read more on this topic.
Singing the Praises of our TV Guide
A veteran Scout.com forum user from the Tennessee HoopVille forum says: "This one is a little sketchy, but it will give you an idea of what's on today".
San Diego vs USC
You know you are big time when ESPN creates a tournament just for you. I am talking of course about the Anaheim Classic whose raison d'etre was to showcase three OJ Mayo games on the ESPN family of networks.
After 15 years with the Zags, Bill Grier left so that he could take over his own program, and revitalize the San Diego "Chargers" that went downhill after their season to remember that ended in the NCAA tournament. It will be an uphill battle for Grier - and I'm not talking about getting to the SD campus ;-)
His team played quite well and showed promise as they gave the USC Trojans all they could handle, under the bright lights of the ESPN cameras. The Johnson and Jones trio looks promising, and could give other WCC teams headaches during the conference season.
While Floyd's defense was ...comfortably numb during the Mercer game, the defensive Trojans ...broke free during the San Diego game and kept them in check, while waiting for their offense to overcome the San Diego pesky defense. OJ Mayo did not score as many points as before, he took some questionable shots, but when the game was on the line, he was ...money. A couple of times he gave Floyd the ..."what do you want from me" look. At times Floyd looked ...marooned on the bench, and was hoping that Mayo's shoot-athon did not ring the ...division bell with regards to team chemistry. Obviously everybody has ... high hopes for the USC team and it's no secret that USC basketball is ...coming back to life.
Guess the Pink Floyd references and win zero prizes :-)
Louisville at UNLV
We are presenting this out of order chronologically as we have already posted our comments on the BYU vs Louisville game.
This game was fairly simple to describe. Defense won in the first half with both teams struggling to score, Derrick Caracter showing flashes of dominance, Edgar Sosa receiving "pine lessons", Lon Kruger's team over-achieving, etc, etc.
The second half was where it all changed, PitinoVille's press wore the Rebels down, and broke the game open, and then closed the game in favor of the Cardinals. Pitino was pressing despite his seven+ rotation, with Will Scott being the "+" guy. With Farley and Caracter being "friends of foul", and Caracter not being as fast as the rest of the team, this is a risky strategy for Pitino, but it work quite well against UNLV. But it certainly boomeranged later on against the faster and deeper BYU Cougars. So instead of facing Ole Roy and North Carolina, Pitino will be facing the pesky Old Dominion coached by not-Ron-Jeremy/not-Stan-Van-Gundy.
If I was Pitino, I would start looking for another point guard in the 2008 recruiting class. Andre McGee is a liability on offense, and playing him along side Terrence Farley is only recommended when the team has a big lead and doesn't need to score more points. Edgar Sosa seemed to be all over the place, and it appears that his missed free throw woes have followed him into this season, as he missed a layup at the end of the half, and two critical one-and-one free throws when the game was on the line at the end of the second half (BYU game). One could also find fault with Pitino's risk management, and think that given the history of chronic and repeated injuries to Juan Diego Tello Palacios and David Padgett, he should have had a backup plan, perhaps a juco or another redhirtable player that could contribute if need be.
Ohio State vs Syracuse
Another fun game! Yes, basketball is supposed to be fun, I'm talking to you coaches! Stop ruining the game by turning it into an ugly blend of football, wrestling, arm wrestling, ultimate fighting, and slugsketball :)
Syracuse played another *cough* neutral *cough* game at MSG, and despite their loss and growing pains, they have shown, once again, a lot of promise. Of course promises are just that, and it takes a lot of hard work to turn potential into gains. But this team does have a lot of potential. And you could see why Izzo was so interested in getting Devendork (not a typo), the guy is crazy, he apparently enjoys taking charges, the more painful the better. It is quite interesting how each year Syracuse manages to find itself on a pre-season tournament at MSG :-)
I jumped on the Thad Matta Express when his Xavier team "lost" to Duke in the 2004 Elite 8. If the jerseys said anything but Duke, Xavier would have been to the Final Four. If you are not convinced, get the tape or the DVD and witness the preferential treatment Duke got on the 50-50 calls! If Matta was able to get to the Elite 8 at Xavier and the Sweet 16 with Butler, and get an utterly despondent post Jim O'Brien team without any post-season hopes to perform as they did, you bet he's gonna have a very good season with this talented lot. I don't think people realize how good his second team is, let alone his starting five.
While we know of Butler, small Othella (Othello Hunter), Lighty, and Terwilliger, the incoming freshmen are only going to get better, not just Dribbler (not a typo) and the anti-Oden (Koufos), but also Evan Turner, space-eater Dallas Lauderdale, once-over-rated Eric Wallace, and the mysterious PJ Hill.
LSU vs Arizona State
Finally a fun game! As Pete Gillen puts it: "they put baskets to score, they put scoreboards to score". The game was not designed to be a slugfest! The game should be Wooden's basketball, not Ben Howland's and Saluki's Slugsketball!
Both the Tigers and the Devils are young teams, with the Tigers missing three key pieces and having had even more inexperienced players on the court. But despite all that, the Tigers broke free from their slump and managed to make a comeback and send the game into overtime thanks to a clutch three by coveted juco #5 (Marcus Thornton).
Apart from this being a fun see-saw game to watch, it showed that these two teams have a lot of P (potential) for this season but also for future seasons. Even if the current season ends up without post-season play for either team, they could make giant leaps in terms of development, and make a big splash in the 2008-2009 season.
I am particularly bookmarking the LSU Tigers, if Tasmin Mitchell returns, this team could bite a lot of SEC opponents thanks to their athleticism and talent, and could sneak into post-season play.
UCLA vs Michigan State
It's no secret that we have fallen behind on our game critic updates, so now that we have found a window in time, we will attempt to push a few of them out your way :)
Kevin Love must have felt like one of the 300 (two-disc special edition for $7) when he faced hoardes of Michigan State forwards ready and eager to foul him. Xerxes-Izzo was sending them in waves and waves at Kevin Love. But despite the aches and bruises, Kevin "Gerard Butler" Love and the Bruins avoided a loss and ended up winning the game despite being down and down.
If Mark Few was watching this game, it may have made him feel a little bit better. As you may recall from the 2006 NCAA tournament, his GoneZaga team had an epic meltdown against UCLA, surrendering a big deal and losing the team. This is what happened to Izzo State at the CBE/Guardians Classic final at a smaller scale, so Izzo should be calling Mark Few to join his support group.
I had my reservations about Michigan State, and more specifically on Drew Neitzel being yet another overrated player who earns his reputation because of where he plays, not how well he plays. Perhaps it was no coincidence that Michigan State actually took the lead when they were playing without Neitzel. After watching this game, I am now considering Michigan State to be a top 25 team, but a marginal one. The tricky thing with the Top 25 is that you have to pick 25 teams, regardless of how bad the teams may look :)
UCLA once again showed how they win games, by sticking to it regardless of the score and situation. Clearly this is emerging as a "coach/team skill", because very few teams are able to do this on a consistent basis. This increases UCLA's chances for another Final Four run, although the numbers may be against them as Tom Brennan mentioned: the only team to make the Final Four three times in a row in the modern era were the Duke Pukies of the early 90s. Well, I would asterisk that however and mention that Pitino's Wildcats did so three times in a row, with Tubby "TimberGopher" Smith coaching the 3rd one. ESPN Research Department, how did this escape you? :)
Outside the Lines: The one-eyed Zebra
The Sunday edition of Outside the Lines (930am pacific, Sunday November 25, 2007) takes a look at the story of Big Ten referee Jim Filson who lost an eye but wanted to continue to do what he loves: being a referee. Steve Cyphers reports. More details on the OTL page.
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Friday, November 23, 2007
BYU vs Louisville
BYU spoils Dick Vitale's party! Dick Vitale was pumped up - he was going to Vegas to cover the Rick Pitino vs Roy Williams matchup! Aww! Awesome with capital A babeeeee! But David Rose and his Cougars spoiled Vitale's party, just like Gardner Webb did. And this win wasn't a fluke. The Cougars earned every single dot in the W.
BYU took over the first half, having a +10 turnover advantage over PitinoVille and Derrick Caracter sitting on the bench with two fouls. But two three-pointers in the last minute of the first half brought PitinoVille back in the game.
In essence, BYU beat Pitino at his own game. The pressure was not effective, and Rose rotated players in and out so they wouldn't get worn out. And they did not. In fact the Cougars turned the press into an advantage as they were able to score uncontested buckets after they broke the press.
A seven man rotation with Will Scott coming in occasionally as the 8th man, is not exactly what fits the Pitino system. Furthermore, Derrick Caracter is not exactly the perfect compliment of a pressing team. With both Caracter and Farley being foul-prone, the rotation gets tighter. To further complicate matters, having Andre McGee and T. Farley on the court at the same time allows the defense to concentrate on the remaining players. Obviously having either Padgett or Juan Diego Tello Palacios would have given the team a lot more leeway. Given that both are injury-prone, it looks like the current rotation is all that Pitino will essentially have. Unless of course R. Delk is eligible at the semester break (which I do not know).
Plaisted and Caracter battled it out in the paint, but Tavernari was the one that had the biggest impact and broke the Cardinals back, and not just because he scored 28 points.
This creates a potentially exciting high scoring affair, assuming North Carolina is able to beat Old Dominion. The game will air tomorrow night on ESPN2 with Dick Vitale. More TV details.
The game was broadcast on BYU-TV, which is great if you dislike commercials because there are none (other than the BYU promos of course during every media timeout). BYU-TV is usually on satellite or digital cable among all the other religious/spirituality channels. One funny thing with their graphics is that they have a giant transparent overlay at the top of the screen with parts of the letters BYU. That graphic was obnoxiously annoying and distracting :)
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
2008 College Basketball Video Games!
Hey, the new season has started! It's awesome with capital A for Amazon! That's where we find the latest college hoops video games for the 2007-2008 season!
Available right now is the 2K Sports College Hoops 2K8 for XBox360, Playstation 3 and Playstation 2.
The EA Sports 2008 March Madness is available for pre-orders at Amazon, with an estimated release date of December 18, 2007. Why are they waiting so long baby? Release it now! The games have began! Amazon offers pre-order and post-order price guarantee, so you can get the lowest price.
The Maui Final: Duke vs Marquette, a preview
Yes, it's revenge time for the Dookies, and a chance for another big win and big media "cred" for the Marquette Golden Warrior Eagles! Duke vs Marquette, NEXT, on ESPN! Well, by next, I mean 7pm pacific (10pm eastern) tonight (Wednesday, November 21, Thanksgiving Eve). Today is a jam-packed day on TV, so be sure to check our TV schedule.
Duke is heading into the game after a satisfying win over the Fighting Illini, while Marquette comes in after dismantling Sutton State, and receiving defensive praise from the one and only Shark the Tark (ok, Tark the Shark).
The local newspaper, the Honolulu Advertiser previews the game, while the Marquette-Scout page notes Coach K's praise for the Golden Eagles. More on this from Cracked Sidewalks (a Marquette blog). More previews at the NCAA Men's BBall blog.
Meanwhile this Madden guy picks Duke to win. I pick and want and wish for Marquette to win! Go Golden Eagle Warriors! More on this game from Worlds Sports News and Draft Express.
If you can't wait for the 2009 Maui Invitational, CSTV's Hangtime slog (not blog, but slog, as in sports + blog = slog) reveals the 2009 field. The 2009 field will be part of the 2009-2010 season. Which teams are participating? Check their slog to find out!
Xs and Os
Both teams are deep and athletic. Neither one has a dominant inside presence, but Duke's gets the edge inside on the offensive edge. The guards and the wings are more or less evenly matches with one exception that could be the game changer: the little guys: Can the Dookies keep Dominic James and David Cubillan in front of them, especially if they play together? And which Marquette defense will show up? The one that dismantled Oki State and earned Tark the Shark's praise or the one that made Chaminade players and fans happy?
On the other side of the court, will Coach K try to create mismatches with Marquette's little guys? DeMarcus Nelson is a potential mismatch waiting to happen. As Doug Gottleib stated on the air a couple of days ago, Duke may be an even better team without Greg Paulass (not a typo). And if Coach RatCase wants to create a mismatch he could try Demarcus Nelson, Gerald Henderson and Nolan Smith (or Scheyer) as the three guards, and try to post up Cubillan or James.
This has the potential of a highly entertaining instant classic game since both teams are not shy about running, however, game pressure and bright spotlights might turn this into a more grinded out affair with lots of fouls and jittery play without much flow. But I hope not!
NCAA Tournament DVDs
Looking for the perfect gift for the basketball fan? We have dozens and dozens of suggestions for you: pick and chose from the 2007 NCAA Tournament DVDs produced by NCAA On Demand. You don't need to squint on a 6-hour VHS tape to celebrate your team's success in the NCAA. You can instead proudly showcase it on your big screen TV with an official NCAA DVD-quality DVD! (Oh dear, this reads like an infomercial!)
Duke vs Illinois
As much as I dislike the Dukies, I have to confess that with the help of the zebras, the NCAA and the announcers they look like they could be a very good team this year. Which will make Duke losses even more exciting and fulfilling :) Meanwhile the Fighting Bruce Webers...
... continue to impress me. While they lost to Duke by double figures, the game was much closer than the final score because of their offensive "spurtability". I am voting for the Fightning Illinois for next week's BlogPoll Top 25! More on them from the Daily Illini Sports blog and Figthing Illini.com.
The Dookie side of the story can be found at Duke Illustrated (Rivals). An independent account of the game from CSTV. Certainly this Duke is not like the 2006-2007 team, they have more depth and more talent. But what is also emerging is the real reason why Coach K wanted the Team USA job: so he and his three helpers can upgrade their coaching skills by working with other coaches. So they picked up offense from Mike D'Antoni, and they picked up defense from (gasp) Jim Boeheim, their "Orange" zone defense. That explains why all three of his assistants went with him. Of course the official reason was that they would be running drills and such, sure, sure, because four basketball coaches with almost 100 years of basketball head-coaching experience and more as assistants do not know how to run drills :) If you want more from the Duke side of the story, check the Just Duke blog.
On the court, the Dookies look like a formidable opponent, not only because they get most of the 50-50 calls, but because they are talented and versatile and deep. While DeMarcus Nelson is the only Duke I do not dislike at the moment, they have plenty of good or good enough players to win a lot of games. Singler is an impact player, who may not be as loud as the other freshman with his game or his style, but he can get things done. Henderson, yes the broken nose guy, is another solid wing. Zoubek gives them an option to play bigger if they have to. And the list goes on and on and on.
And one parting shot for the Xs and Os fans, Coach Bruchu diagrams Duke's Zone Buster play. Coach Bruchu's blog is an excellent resource for players, fans, coaches, and everyone interested in the Xs and Os of basketball!
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Arizona State vs Illinois
The Arizona State players were zoned out, not because they were playing zone defense, but because they looked really zoned out when Illinois kept them scoreless for a few days. Illinois fans have a lot to celebrate, they may not have Derrick Rose and Eric Gordon, but it looks like they have a team with a capital T, and a rotation that apparently can go 15-deep or so.
The Sons of the NBA game, with McMillan and Michael Jordan's son playing was nowhere near a close game. Defense took over at times, and defense prevailed.
Herb Sendek may have improved the talent level of the team, but this was only game one of the season for them, and it showed. Will the struggles of last year continue or was this just growing pains of the first game of the season against a solid and deep Illinois team? The answer, or at part of the answer, will be known by Wednesday night, where the Sun Devils will have played against Princeton and then against LSU or Chaminade. More on this game from a local impartial observer, the Honolul Advertiser.
lllinois was cruising along, and now they are getting ready to beat Duke! Go Bruce Weber! Go Fighting Illini! Beat the Pukies! It will be interesting to see how the Illinois depth can affect the Dookies. Bruce Weber doesn't often get a chance to play the big wigs, and this is a great chance for him to get a notch against Coach K. This will be an interesting battle from a coaching perspective, the unassuming Average Joe Coach (Bruce Weber) vs the Pope of Basketball Coaches (Roach K).
More on the Illinois team and a preview of the Illinois vs Duke Maui game at the Illinois Rivals page, and also check FightingIllini.com.
UCLA vs Maryland
Have you ever seen a Ben Howland game that wasn't a grinded out root canal affair? If you had, it wasn't last night! UCLA prevailed in another slugfest (particularly the first half). Meanwhile Maryland continues to struggle, and the Gary Williams magic is gone... But Gary Williams may have found a personality clone on the court in...
... sophomore Greivis Vasquez who creates a dilemma for camera-men: Do you follow Gary Williams jumping up and down or Vasquez? And someone please teach Mike Gminski how to pronounce his name properly!
It will be interesting to see how Ben Howland will cope with the coaches box. As you may recall, he is frequently following the action and playing defense on the sidelines. While Kevin Love continues to have solid performances, I am starting to get vibes of the over-rated. But I'll withhold judgment until he actually plays against a college player of similar weight and relevance.
I continue to think Chace Stanback is under-utilized by Howland, and the reason it's no secret, defense! Stanback could have the offensive impact of an Arron Afflalo, except Stanback is taller, so it would be easier for him to shoot over opponents. But as Wooden has pointed out, Howland wins on the defensive end.
I will add to what John Wooden said: Doing so is such a mid-major thing to do when you are ooaching at UCLA :)
The Gary Williams Experience at Maryland continues to deteriorate. No longer teams fear the turtle, but instead they end up having turtle soup (no turtles were hurt during this blog post). Vasquez alone cannot wake up the rest of the team, and Gist continues to have flashes, a problem that has plagued a number of recent (touted) Gary Williams recruits.
Can the new wave of freshmen pick things up quick enough to have an impact this season? With Brenda Freese doing so well, will Gary Williams get on the hot seat if he has a bad season? Surely, he shouldn't, but in this era of what have you done for me lately, will The One Ring save him from Doom? :)
For the UCLA point of view, check Bruins Nation, and for the Maryland point of view check It Never Rains in College Park.
College Football: Outside the Lines revisits "The Play"
Today's edition of Outside the Lines (OTL) at noon pacific (3pm eastern) on ESPN will revisit "The Play" in its centerpiece segment. "The Play" happened at the end of the Stanford vs California-Berkeley football game in November 1982. For those not familiar, I won't spoil it :) More details at the OTL page!
Monday, November 19, 2007
LSU at Oklahoma State
At the end of the first half, Chaminade's chances of winning a game at the Maui Invitational tomorrow never looked any better. Their potential opponent, the LSU Tigers were down 20, with three players down due to injury, Tasmin Mitchell, D. Mason, and JuCo space-eater Thornton.
But that was just half one. In the second half the LSU Tigers played inspired and managed to make a valiant comeback and get to within three points of the Oklahoma State Sooners. It was Oklahoma State's turn to look not so good in the second half, after having a solid first half. As you can see, it often takes two to have a good game or a bad game.
But at the end of the game one could not help but see that both of these teams have a lot of potential for this season. LSU is loaded with raw talent. If Glen "Big Baby" Davis was not eating everyone's lunch and dinner, the returning LSU Tigers wouldn't be so skinny ;-) Assuming this group continues to improve over time and the three injured players return, LSU has the potential of a solid season and a run for an NCAA bid. One thing you cannot accuse John Brady is not being able to get recruits. Just a few weeks ago he beat a number of national powers for the services of high scoring juco wing Marcus Thornton.
Oklahoma State has its upside as well. They have a nice blend of returning players and newcomers. Back is Obi Manuelo, and in comes promising freshmen James Anderson at the wing and big man Ibrahima Thomas. Byron Eaton continues to be in the dog house, he has to lose some more weight before being allowed to start by Emperor Sutton Jr, but he lost a lot already. Regardless of a very promising outlook, someone should prescribe Sean Sutton some Prozac, he looks very unhappy all the time ;-)
